carbon monoxide

[LS6 Tommy]

We all know the dangers. So I bought a bunch of CO detectors and put them all over the place. One day I put 4 of them in my attached garage and started my car with my fob. On purpose. With the garage doors closed. After 30 minutes none of the CO detectors alarmed and the 2 with the digital read outs were still below the limit considered dangerous. Weird. A canary would have survived in there. My cars shut off after 10 minutes if you start them with the remote. I suspect most are like that. So I had to remote start them 3 times. Anybody else had this experience? I detected no CO in the house. Just wondering why some folks are so concerned over bbqing in the garage with the doors open when I get these results with the doors closed???

Still trying to convince yourself adding your garage to your home HVAC system isn't a bad idea?

Tommy

 

[Moto]

Catalytic converters don't remove CO...

Tommy

Yes, they do.

 

[Dragfluid]

Yes, they do.

It REDUCES it, but doesn't eliminate it completely. Running a lean air/fuel mixture is primarily what controls the output of CO. And a lean mixture then raises the combustion temperature, which in turn raises the output of Oxides of Nitrogen. The cat also helps to cut that down as well. The main byproduct of it all is CO2 and water.

You can't breath carbon dioxide, either.

 

[Trombo36]

I did a TON of research on CO detectors. Skip anything at the big box hardware stores; they are far too insensitive. You are wasting your money with any of those; most don't even squawk until it's been at 70ppm CO or higher for awhile, which is very dangerous.

The best one I found for homeowners is here, from Aeromedix. I have the predecessor to the $199 one and it's a gem. Good down to 7ppm and is small enough to travel with.

While we're talking about contaminants, I also bought a CO2 meter and that's been VERY eye-opening as to the quality of air in my home. And if you really want to scare yourself, take it to any of the newer hotels that have NO makeup air (fresh air) anywhere in the place.

 

[Showkey]

This theory of the garage door open is going to eliminate CO build up is a myth. Hey....do what you want.........but convincing others it’s safe or smart might not be the case in their particular situation.

In my prior Work life saw many cases where the prevailing wind held the CO in the garage with the door or doors open.........ending a sad story. A few cases occurred with the service door open the device in operation outside and the prevailing wind pushed the CO into the garage causing the sad story.

This conversation or argument is all moot until it happens to you or someone close to you...........or your there first hand to see the end results. But this is so true with many accidents or mishaps.

 

[mike in tucson]

I read somewhere that the newer cars are a problem for the folks trying to commit suicide in a closed garage.....the article said that the car would run out of gas before the CO concentration got to a sufficient level to do the job. Don't remember the source of the article.

 

[Showkey]

^^^^^^^^. It takes longer and as many prior post have mentioned the vehicle begins to run poorly as the exhaust displaces the 02 ..........so the engine then produces more poisons as the Converter is less effective. As mentioned CO2 is also might get you has well.

The rescue teams often find the engine running or the key on engine stopped .....but the occupants are still sick or dead.

 

[brainypencil]

Yes, I actually had an experience with Lysol. I wonder why it sets off.

 

[HoosierBuddy]

We have CO detectors at work to check for CO down to 1 PPM. I've seen new service trucks running that won't even register with the sensor right at the tailpipe.

I don't think it's the cats that make the big difference, I think it's the ecu. It's pretty amazing what modern engine control management can accomplish.

Phil

 

[rlitman]

Yes, I actually had an experience with Lysol. I wonder why it sets off.

Because CO detectors are a subset of combustible gas detectors. Other combustible gases will confuse them.

 

[Itsjustdirt]

Yes, I actually had an experience with Lysol. I wonder why it sets off.

??????

 

[LS6 Tommy]

Yes, they do.

Technically, you're right, but it's really a "yes and no" answer. A cat hardly does anything at idle, like when you're working on a car in a garage. The exhaust gas doesn't get hot enough to "light off" the cat.

Tommy

 

[Milton Shaw]

I was told 20 years ago that if you drive an hour on the way home (50 miles) or so. Then open the garage and start your lawnmower you have just created more CO with the lawn mower than the entire drive home. There is a certain percentage of CO in the air and it increases at altitude. I remember having to calibrate the CO meters on Allen or Snap On tune up machines for the CO present at 1000 foot elevation so that when you sampled the tail pipe you were just reading what the car produced. And it was cleaner than the air going in the carb (30 years ago). With Fuel injection and modern control systems the fumes coming out are extremely clean but the amount of CO2 in them would eventually kill you, not the CO coming out of them. The old cars pre cats high CO readings were from fuel problems and high HC was from spark and electrical problems. One was incomplete combustion the other was un-burned fuel.

 

[Mike99]

I placed 1 one the ground right under the exhaust. Was a 1999 camry.

 

[Mike99]

Wow and all this time I thiught CO was odorless.

 

[Mike99]

Now that we've had 2 pages worth to say the same thing, let's just sum it up:

CO is dangerous. Don't **** around with it. Nobody here needs to think that they're macho and run the car in the garage just to prove a point. Maybe you don't give a **** about about what happens to you, but think about your family.

As a mechanic, I've been around it all my life, and although I've always tried to be careful, **** happens, and sometimes the people in the same work area may not have been as careful. I hate to think about how much of that **** has built up in my system over the years.

Whats your point? Whats macho got to do with this. I ran an experiment to test my CO detectors. Oh and I am a mechanic too. Does that make a difference?

 

[NUTTSGT]

Yes, I actually had an experience with Lysol. I wonder why it sets off.

What was your experience ?

What is the propellant in the Lysol can ? Some products use CO2 as a propellant, this is what Scotchgard used at one time.

 

[DenisG]

I'll bet that the CO detectors used in the garage no longer work like the ones still being used in the house. I think that most CO detectors have an internal electrochemical sensor that works like a fuel cell (gas powered battery). When the chemicals in the sensor are used up (passivated or poisoned), the sensor no longer puts out a signal.

 

[Reborn]

I've taken one thing away from this thread. I will no longer idle my fun car for 5-10 minutes in the garage (door open).

 

[Dragfluid]

I've taken one thing away from this thread. I will no longer idle my fun car for 5-10 minutes in the garage (door open).

Thank you.